Method of concrete track construction.



PATENTED JAN. l0, 1905.

E. B. NICHOLS. METHOD OE CONCRETE TRACK CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED 0CT.14,Y19O4.

UNITED STATES Patented January 10, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

METHOD OF CONCRETE TRACK CONSTRUCTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 779,795, dated January10, 1905. Original application filed July 27, 1904:, Serial No. 218,395.Divided and this application led October 14,1904. Serial No. 228,483-

To a/ZZ wt', it may 00u/cern.'

Be it known that I, HENRY B. NICHOLS, a citi- A zen of the UnitedStates, residing in thecity and county of Philadelphia and State ofPennsyl- Vania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMethods of Concrete Track Construction, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to methods of constructing railway'road-beds andtrack structures.

It relates particularly to such structures as have the supporting meansfor the rails and the road-surfaces associated with or carried by massesof composition materialsuch as, concrete, artificial stone,cement, andthe likeh as set forth in my pending application, filed July 27, 1904,Serial No. 218,395, of which the present application is a division.

My invention has for its object the production of a structure of theclass mentioned in which the rails are removably carried upon andsupported by a mass or masses of composition, to which they are anchoredby means which hold them down, but which provide for adjustment, thechange of rails, and the easy repair of the supporting structure or thesurface.

It also has for its object the development of a method of building thesupporting structure and laying the Iails which combines simplicity withcertainty, which insures the compactness and homogeneity of the mass ofcompositionemployed, and that it shall present a sufficient resistanceto tensile as well as to compression strains, as well as that it shallpermit either old or new rails at first laying or any subsequent time tobe accurately and readily adjusted.

I attain my objects in the following manner: I form my supporting.structure, preferably, as a monolith or continuous unbroken mass ofconcrete or artiiicial stone. I may in some cases employ segregatedmasses of concrete supporting the rails at intervals af- -ter the mannerof ties; but the principal embodiment of my invention is in a monolithicStructure. This comprises two longitudinal masses extending along thesides of the track, each beneath one line of rails, these being foradjusting the rails.

connected by a horizontal web of the same material, which serves thedouble purpose of connecting the side bodies and of making a solidfoundation for the road-surface between the rails. Suitablereinforcing-rods are embedded in this horizontal body at intervals withtheir ends extending down and embedded in the masses of the side bodies.In each side body I provide at intervals metallic anchors or yokes, alsoembedded in the mass, and upon these I secure means for holding down andAn important feature of the invention resides in such adjustment oftheparts as permits the rails to rest upon the concrete without bearingupon the yokes, although held down by the latter. I thus secure asolidity and uniformity of support, together with a certainty ofanchorage, that has hitherto been and is now unattainable by any othermeans. In order to secure the independence of the support and theanchorages, l make use of certain temporary devices in laying the track,to which I shall refer i the description of my method'. In building thestructure I have thus indicated I proceed as follows: I iirst eXcavate abroad continuous trench of only sufiicient depth to accommodatetemporary ties, upon which the rails are laid and roughly brought togage and line. These ties may be supported by tamping the earth up undertheir middle portions or otherwise, leaving the ends free. They supportthe rails and yokes during construction and insure the bases `of railsand tops of yokes being in the same hori- 'Zontal plane with respect toeach other in the finished work. Side trenches are then excavated (orthey may be cut in the beginning) of proper depth to accommodate theconcrete side bodies or Stringer portions of the monolith. The yokes oranchors are then secured to and hung from the rails in these sidetrenches, shims or distance-pieces being interposed between the railsand yokes to maintain a proper distance relation. The concrete fillingis then applied, the side trenches thereby being filled so as to embedall but theupper surface of the anchors or yokes in asolid mass, and theconcrete is tamped solidly be? neath the bases of the rails between theyokes.

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The temporary ties are removed, the crosstrench filled, covering' inreinforcing-rods lying across the homogeneous mass thus produced, withtheir ends bent down into the side bodies. Upon the concrete attaining asufficient degree of hardness the shims are removed, leaving the rails ashort distance above the upper surfaces of the yokes. 'Each yoke isprovided with side adjustment-screws and lock-nuts and with verticalholding bolts or Screws which take over the base-flange of the rail. Bymeans of these side adjustmentscrews the rails are now finally broughtto accurate line and gage, and by means of the vertically-holding-downbolts the rails are drawn firmly down to the concrete Stringer, therebycompensating for the shrinkage of the concrete in hardening. A layer ofsand being placed over the concrete, the paving' materials are then laidso as to fill up between and on each side of the rails. Properly-shapedblocks are preferably employed to fill in between the fianges of therailsthemselves. I sometimes place additional concrete across the widthof the excavation to a depth sufficient to embed the side adjustment-screws and nuts of holding-down bolts, in which case thisadditional concrete serves as a locking means for these screws and nutsto prevent their loosening and which additional concrete may readily bechipped away for access to the screws and nuts.

A great many points of novelty and of merit will be evident in thisstructure and in the method of laying it. As the monolithic bed has along life, longer than the rails, the latter may be renewed or replacedby rails of a different pattern, if desired, and perfect adjustmentsecured thereafter. This has never been possible heretofore to myknowledge.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure l is a cross-section of a road-bed constructed as I haveindicated. Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are plan, side, and end views,respectively, of one of the temporary ties employed during constructionof the same.

Referring to the drawings, A is the roadsurface, paved with blocks a orin any other suitable manner, this surface paving resting on a layer ofsand s. The rails B rest upon the solid body of concrete D, whichextends across the horizontal surface g of the earth G and into the sidetrenches g, cut longitudinally beneath the rails. This mass of concreteextends along the track continuously and at intervals has embedded in itthe reinforcing-rods E, having their ends c bent down into the sidetrenches in order to gain a firm anchorage in the side bodies. Atintervals in each side body a yoke C is embedded, consisting,preferably, of an open frame with fianged sides c and provided at itsupper end with opposite lugs c4, within which work the adjusting-screwsc, these confining between them the holding-blocks and vertical screwsor bolts 02, the foot t ofl the rail B being embraced between theseholding-blocks and the rails being' therefore adjustable to exact gageby manipulating the screws c5.

In setting the rails the horizontal trench is first excavated andsurfaced, as at g. Temporary cross-ties H H are then supportedtransversely in this trench, the rails laid thereon and roughly broughtto gage. I prefer for this purpose to use the form of' crosstie shown inFigs. 2, 3, and 4:, which consists of a wooden body portion H,surmounted by the channel member HQ suitably secured thereto and of alength greater than that of the body portion H. The overhanging endsthus produced facilitate the attachment and detachment of the rails,while the body portion H is adapted to the operation of surfacing therails by tamping up under the tie. At each end of the tie theoverhanging channel portion is perforated by the slotted holes li t,through the enlarged portion of which the head of the bolt 1,' freelyslips to be engaged by the slotted portion of the hole for the purposeof clamping the rail and tie by means of the clips jj and nuts /r it.Having secured the rails to the temporary ties, the side trenches g aredug, the yokes or anchors C hung upon the rails, and the concrete filledin. In this part of the process shims .or distancepieces c3 areinterposed between the rail-foot Z13 and the head of each yoke. Infinishing these are removed, as well as the temporary ties, leaving therails, as shown, raised from the yokes and adjustably held down therebyupon the concrete.

In the drawings a type of rail in common use is shown at B with a head7)' and a high web Z) and a groove 722, having an inclined face. Theconcave sides of the rail-figure are filled out by means of the specialblocks d, which, it will be observed, do not take or transmit anystrains and which clear the adjusting and holding screws or bolts. Anyother form of rail or any new rail of the same form can be substitutedfor the rail shown without in any material degree disturbing or injuringthe main body of the concrete bed. Moreover, the road-surface may berepaired as desired and the sand replaced from time to time withoutinjury to the concrete.

It is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the non-essentialsteps herein described,as I am fully aware the same may be variedindefinitely without altering or departing from the scope of my generalscheme. The distinguishing features of my invention are, first, thesupport of the rails with their yokes on them in a temporary manner(although the supports may be parts of the permanent structure) andbuilding the permanent support, such as concrete or other suitable body,under or around the rails and yokes and building the latter into thebody or mass,

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alinement upon temporary ties and bringing so the rail is then heldfirmly down; second, having the rail supported in such a way that afterthe concrete or equivalent construction is complete the rail islsupported thereon and the yokes serve merely to hold it down.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

l. The method of laying railway track which consists: rst in forming apreliminary trench and laying temporary supports therein; second insupporting rails upon said temporary supports, and hanging the permanentsecuring devices upon the rails; third in building up beneath the railsa supporting mass and embedding the securing devices therein; fourth inremoving the temporary supports, completely filling the trench andfinally adjusting the rails, all substantially as described.

2. The method of railway-track construction which comprises thefollowing steps: first supporting the rails upon a temporary structure;second hanging the permanent securing devices upon the rails withinterposed distance-pieces; third building up beneath the rails apermanent support and embedding the permanent securing devices therein;fourth removing the temporary supporting structure and removing thedistance-pieces, so as to leave the rails supported upon the permanentstructure and held down by the permanent devices, all substantially asdescribed.

3. The method of alining and surfacing railway-tracks comprising thefollowing operations: first supporting the rails in rough same to anaccurate surface by tamping beneath the ties; second building up beneaththe rails `a permanent support and embedding therein permanent securingdevices having adjustable rail-securing members; third removing thetemporary ties and bringing the rails to an accurate alinement by meansof the adjustable rail-securing members of the permanent securingdevices; all substantially as described.

4. The method of laying railway-track which consists in: first forming atrench and laying supports in proximity thereto; second placing rails onsaid supports and securing devices, separate from the supports, on therails; third building beneath the rails a supporting mass and buildingthe securing devices therein; fourth removing the weight of the railfrom the original support to the supporting mass, filling, and adjustingthe rails; all substantially as described.

5. The method of laying railway track which consists in: first arrangingsupporting means to carry rails during construction approximately attheir nal level; second supporting the rails with their final securingdevices upon them, said securing devices being separate means from thesupporting means; third building up beneath the rails and the supportingmeans and building the securing devices in the structure so created;substantially as described. y

6. The method of laying railway -track which consists in: firsttemporarily supporting the rails with their final securing devicescarried by them, said securing devices being separate from the temporarysupporting means; second buildingfull supporting means under or aboutthe rails and securing devices so that the latter then hold the rail inposition; substantially as described.

7. 'Ihe method of laying railway track which consists in: firstsupporting the rails temporarily by means other than their permanentsecuring devices or yokes and with the latter hung upon them, and thenbuilding under or about them so that the rail will rest on thesupporting structure so built and the yokes will be embedded or securedfirmly therein, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY B. mcHoLs.

Witnesses:

GEO. B. TAYLOR, HERBERT G. CAMPION.

